The Wall

Rating:
Summary: "The Wall" is a Patriotic Book
Review: "The Wall" is a patriotic book. It was easy to read; that made me understand how the Vietnam War turned out in the end.

The boy and his father try to find the grandfather's name on the Vietnam Wall memorial when they pass many other names. When the father reads the names on the wall, the boy imagines each name as a real person, standing next to him and talking to him.

If you are interested in the Vietnam War and how people sacrificed their lives fore us, then "The Wall" would be a good book for you to read.

I gave this four stars out of five because I found the book to be very moving. If you like books about wars, then you'll like "The Wall."

Rating:
Summary: All teachers should use this book in their classroom!
Review: As a college student studying to be an elementary school teacher, I recommend that every teacher use this book in their classroom around Memorial Day and Veterans Day. This book has a great message and the fact that it is written from the boy's perspective makes it easy for students to realate to the characters.

Rating:
Summary: All teachers should use this book in their classroom!
Review: As a college student studying to be an elementary school teacher, I recommend that every teacher use this book in their classroom around Memorial Day and Veterans Day. This book has a great message and the fact that it is written from the boy's perspective makes it easy for students to realate to the characters.

Rating:
Summary: captures the emotions
Review: Eve Bunting has done an outstanding job of capturing the readers emotions regarding the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I could feel for the father and the others that toured the exhibit and found myself crying as I read it to a faculty. A teacher who was a former vet, was so touched, he read it and found himself reliving experiences. Beautiful - brings out the sorrows of war, which we haven't experienced as much of since that time. I recommend this book for anyone - vet or not. Eve Bunting has done an excellent job bringing reality and hearbreak to the book as well as a sense of respect for those who fought there.

Rating:
Summary: A Powerful, Quiet and Sad Story for Veteran's Day
Review: Eve Bunting masterfully captures a somber, quiet visit to "The Wall" from a young boy's perspective. With deceptively simple language, Bunting paints a cold barren day, as father and son go to visit "grandfather's wall." The boy's youthful curiosity is carefully balanced against his dad's sobering pilgrimage.

For many years, this has been my read-aloud of choice for primary grade classes in our school library just prior to Veteran's Day. The children always sit in thoughful stillness, often asking insightful questions about the wall, the war, the wheelchair-bound soldier without any legs in the story, or the grandma and grandpa aged couple tearfully hugging each other.

Not all stories that children hear need to be happy, silly or simply for entertainment. Sadness, loss of a loved one, and unfortunately war, are a part of reality. This exceptional short story is a slice of life that can be meaningfully shared with children, to explore the emotions surrounding this part of reality.

Rating:
Summary: "The Wall" is a Patriotic Book
Review: For over a quarter of a century the key imperative in American Foreign Policy has been to avoid another Vietnam. Now we have a new generation of children, born to the sons and daughters of those who fought in Vietnam but never came home. How do we tell them the story of Vietnam so they understand how much it scarred the national psyche and how their is such a national resolve never to let it happen again in some way more substantial than showing them "Forrest Gump?" Eve Bunting comes up with one way in "The Wall," ably assisted by the watercolor illustrations of Ronald Himler. "The Wall" is the simply story of a little boy and his father who have come from far away to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. to find the name of the boy's grandfather.

What makes "The Wall" so moving is that instead of answering questions it will get children to ask them. Like the little boy in the story, children reading this book will see man in combat fatigue in a wheelchair because he does not have any legs; an older couple hugging and crying; flags, teddy bears and letters laid against the wall. The little boy does not ask any questions about what he sees, but I have to believe that students reading this book certainly have questions that they want answered. Whether it is used for Memorial Day or Veterans Day, or any discussion in which children are thinking about war and its consequences, "The Wall" is a very thoughtful book that should be very helpful to teachers and students alike.

Rating:
Summary: A boy and his dad visit "The Wall" to find grandpa's name
Review: For over a quarter of a century the key imperative in American Foreign Policy has been to avoid another Vietnam. Now we have a new generation of children, born to the sons and daughters of those who fought in Vietnam but never came home. How do we tell them the story of Vietnam so they understand how much it scarred the national psyche and how their is such a national resolve never to let it happen again in some way more substantial than showing them "Forrest Gump?" Eve Bunting comes up with one way in "The Wall," ably assisted by the watercolor illustrations of Ronald Himler. "The Wall" is the simply story of a little boy and his father who have come from far away to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. to find the name of the boy's grandfather.

What makes "The Wall" so moving is that instead of answering questions it will get children to ask them. Like the little boy in the story, children reading this book will see man in combat fatigue in a wheelchair because he does not have any legs; an older couple hugging and crying; flags, teddy bears and letters laid against the wall. The little boy does not ask any questions about what he sees, but I have to believe that students reading this book certainly have questions that they want answered. Whether it is used for Memorial Day or Veterans Day, or any discussion in which children are thinking about war and its consequences, "The Wall" is a very thoughtful book that should be very helpful to teachers and students alike.

Rating:
Summary: I am a teacher
Review: I am a sixth grade social studies teacher. Yes, this book is below the average sixth grade reading level. However, I read this along with other books, orally, to my classes at the beginning of the school year. It gives the students a sneak preview as to what their studies are going to be all about. It also encourages the idea that history is not so bad after all. It should encourage them to read about history and may even introduce the genre to some students. The book also provides realism to the plight of the Vietnam War. It is a good book experience for all who read and/or listen to it.

Rating:
Summary: I am a teacher
Review: I am a sixth grade social studies teacher. Yes, this book is below the average sixth grade reading level. However, I read this along with other books, orally, to my classes at the beginning of the school year. It gives the students a sneak preview as to what their studies are going to be all about. It also encourages the idea that history is not so bad after all. It should encourage them to read about history and may even introduce the genre to some students. The book also provides realism to the plight of the Vietnam War. It is a good book experience for all who read and/or listen to it.

Rating:
Summary: Remember.
Review: Over a quarter of a century has passed since the U.S. involvement in Vietnam came to an end, yet the effects of that conflict are still etched throughout the fabric of our modern day society. But another generation has been born in the time since the fighting ended. Many have never heard of Vietnam let alone the fighting that went on there. How does one introduce a child to a subject that is still as electrified as the Vietnam War? Perhaps by reading THE WALL with them.

THE WALL is simply a story about a young man who takes his son to the Vietnam War Memorial to find the name of his dad. The young boy's grandfather died in the conflict and at the end of the book the reader knows the boy's head is full of questions. The story doesn't answer these questions, but allows children to verbalize these questions themselves: Why are there flags all around here? Why did that teacher say the Wall belongs to all of us? Why does that soldier not have any legs? The story can also be used as in introduction for not only the Vietnam War, but to also talking about war in general. The illustrations and the story are molded together perfectly into one beautiful harmony. Sometimes kids will be anxious during a story, but when reading this story most kids will remain completely still, taking in the simple, yet profound story. This is a great book to read to children not just during Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, or Independence Day, but at any time during the year.